Applicants set out to produce an improved Christmas tree holder. In this connection, they surveyed the available commercial products and noted the following:
That typically a leg-supported elevated pot was used to receive and support the stump of the tree. The pot was stabilized by the outwardly and downwardly projecting legs. The pot further carried means, for grasping the stump, to unite it with the stable base provided by the legs. The pot served as a reservoir for water, to keep the tree from becoming unduly dry; and PA1 That typically the means for uniting the stump with the pot involved three or more screws extending through the upper end of the pot wall at spaced points around its rim. These screws served a second function -- more particularly, they provided a means for adjusting the verticality of the tree. By the process of easing off one screw and further screwing in another, the tree could be tilted, although the levelling of the pot remained unchanged. PA1 The three screw grasping/levelling system seemed to baffle some users. It appeared desirable to develop a simpler system for providing these two functions; PA1 The pot used was typically difficult to keep filled with water, as it was awkward to pour the water into the narrow annular space between the surface of the stump and the inner surface of the pot; and PA1 There was no useful means provided for testing the water level in the pot.
In applicants' view, there were shortcomings which characterized the prior art products seen. More particularly: